An early analysis of a portion of lobbying disclosures shows utilities racked up at least $12 million in expenses, while companies that produce oil and natural gas spent at least $13.9 million.

The difference between the two is far smaller than in the first quarter. In January through March, electric utilities spent $35.1 million, while oil and gas doled out $44.5 million.

The spending reveals how heavily certain industries worked to influence House climate legislation, analysts said (Greenwire, June 26). Utilities, especially those that use coal, succeeded in winning help in that bill. With the debate now shifted to the Senate, analysts expect heavy persuasion efforts to continue.

"The coal industry is going to have to step up to keep what they got," said Kenneth Green, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. "The oil industry's going to have to step up to get what they didn't get. The environmentalists are going to be lobbying to tighten the standards."

The numbers reflect partial totals for lobbying spending in April, May and June. E&E, which tracks lobbying by 10 energy and climate sectors, asked the Center for Responsive Politics to analyze second-quarter spending data that had been made public by the Senate as of yesterday. About 60 percent of the total was ready, with complete numbers expected to be computed next week.

The nonpartisan research center chooses the industry categories and assigns groups to each category. Within many sectors, there are companies with disparate if not conflicting interests. Companies that produce primarily natural gas, for example, have different legislative priorities than do oil producers.

Because the numbers are partial totals, they do not reveal whether sectors spent more this year than in 2008.

Electric utilities in 2008 spent $159.7 million on lobbying expenditures. Their first-quarter total of $35 million showed the industry on track to spend less this year. But at the time, analysts said spending could rise in the second quarter as House lawmakers headed toward a vote on climate legislation that would profoundly change energy laws.

"Several large electric utilities are the big winners in this climate bill," said Tyson Slocum, director of the energy program at Public Citizen, a watchdog group. "Clearly, there is a reason why they spend this money on lobbying."

"There is typically a correlation," Slocum added. "The more you spend, the better chance you get at influencing the legislative process."

The House bill sponsored by Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman of California and Ed Markey of Massachusetts would set up a program to cap carbon emissions and require industries to buy pollution permits. The legislation would give away 85 percent of those permits in the early years, and electric utilities would get 35 percent of those free allowances.

Utility lobbying efforts were aimed at preventing sharply higher electricity bills, said Jim Owen, spokesman for the Edison Electric Institute, a trade group for utilities.

"A lot of these issues are incredibly complicated," Owen said. "Part of what we're trying to do, we're trying to be part of that conversation with Congress, [seeking] what we regard as sound energy policy."

Based on the preliminary numbers, American Electric Power Co. Inc. -- a utility serving Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia -- spent the most in the sector. The company, which uses large amounts of coal to make power, spent at least $2.9 million on lobbying.

Oil and gas still tops spending

The oil and gas industry's top spending in the second quarter comes after first-quarter numbers showed the sector on pace to shatter previous spending totals. The industry in the first three months of the year spent $44.5 million on lobbying, compared with $30.1 million in the same period a year earlier. If the pace set by this year's first quarter continued, it would result in a $178 million lobbying total for the year.